1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to articles for binding objects that need to be isolated singly or held as organized groups of objects. More particularly the present invention provides an interlocking fastener, preferably in strip form, that holds objects within a wrapped binding held together by interference of interlocking elements. The surface of the interlocking fastener, in contact with objects to be held, includes material for at least frictional contact with the objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of well-known materials, devices and methods exist for the purpose of tying objects to surfaces or tying them together into organized groups or bundles. String or twine have long been used this purpose. These materials may be used, for instance, to attach hoses, wires, cables and electrical supply cords and the like to walls or beams or other types of structure. In the process of attachment, a length of string may be wrapped around a single wire or cable before tying it to a suitable part of a selected structure. The same process may be used to prepare a group or bundle of wires or cables that may be wrapped inside a length of string to retain them in an organized group.
The use of string as a wrapping and binding material has the advantage of low cost. A disadvantage of this material is the difficulty of retaining tension in the wrapped string while forming a suitable knot to hold objects held singly or in an organized group. After successfully tying a retaining knot, difficulty may be experienced during efforts to untie the knot for temporary or permanent release of objects, such as wires or cables.
Other means have been developed for securing and bundling objects representative types of which include elongate metal and wooden rods and flexible elongate objects, such as hoses, wires and cables. Commonly used articles for attaching objects to structures or organizing them into groups include rubber bands, cable or wire ties, adhesive tapes and mechanical fastening devices. Mechanical fasteners are available in a variety of types, of which hook and loop fasteners are readily identified.
The use of hook and loop fasteners in a broad range of applications amply demonstrates their versatility. Even within a single area of application, such as securing objects or organizing them into compact bundles, there are many types of securing and wrapping devices involving hook and loop interlocking fastening elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,743, for example, describes a self-attaching, self-adjusting, and reusable bundling device for wrapping and securing bundles of cable, rope, hose, electrical supply cords and other objects. The bundling device includes a two-sided, three-section strap using glued, stitched, sonic welded or otherwise attached hook and loop elements. One use of the device provides bundling of electrical cords attached to power tools and allows the user to hold the bundled cord with one hand while applying a tight wrap of the hook and loop bundling device with the other hand. Another device for a similar purpose is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,676. In this case a strap for securing a bundled power cord has hook and loop elements on opposing extended surfaces and a pair of slots to receive the power cord for sliding attachment of the strap to the power cord. The attached strap, after wrapping around the bundled power cord, may be held in wrapped condition by interlock of hook elements on one side of the strap with loop elements on the other. U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,603 describes a bundling tie used to bundle a plurality of elongated members, such as wires and cables. The bundling tie comprises a flexible strap secured to an anchor member by inserting one end of the strap through a slit formed in the strap itself. An anchor member is typically a single strand of wire at the center of a wire bundle. From this position, the strap may be wrapped around the other members of the wire bundle to form an organized group of wires held together by interlock of hook and loop elements when the free end of the strap overlaps a portion of the wrapped strap.
Mechanical fastening straps, having hook and loop elements, may be used with auxiliary components such as clasps, hoops, rings and the like to facilitate increased binding tension on a group of objects. Increased binding tension occurs via the process of cinching a fastening strap against the auxiliary components. U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,540 provides a loop-forming device for attachment under tension to limbs and other objects that need to be held securely. The fastening device has a first flexible strap with hook elements on one surface and loop elements on the opposite surface. The strap includes a retaining ring that receives a free end of the strap during formation of a loop around a member. Cinching forces acting against the retaining ring may be used to increase gripping force on a member. Interlocking attachment of the free end to an outer portion of the loop substantially maintains the applied gripping force. U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,871 provides another example in which a rectangular ring facilitates loop formation using a strap having loop elements engagable with hook elements disposed on opposing sides of separate connecting tabs.
Regardless of their utility for holding and gripping single objects or groups of objects, the fastening elements of hook and loop fasteners consist of filamentary, easily deflected structures. Objects held inside a wrap of a mechanical fastener become susceptible to transverse movement. This means, for example, that a bundle of wires will slide relative to a binding formed by a hook and loop fastener so that the bundle could be displaced sideways during application of a pulling force to the wire bundle. Potential problems with such displacement indicate the need for a mechanical fastener that limits any sort of movement of objects held in a wrapped mechanical fastener.
The present invention provides an interlocking fastener, particularly of the hook and loop type, having the benefit of restricting movement of objects that have been grouped within at least a single wrap of an interlocking fastener strip. Fasteners according to the present invention comprise a planar sheet of material, preferably in elongate strip form, used as a backing material. One surface of the backing material is populated with a plurality of interlocking elements in the form of hook elements. The opposing surface of the planar sheet may also be populated with hook elements, but preferably has a plurality of loop elements that interlock with the hook elements during formation of a wrapped fastening strip. A wrapped fastening strip retains its structure by releasable engagement of overlapped opposing end portions of the interlocking fastener strip. As described above, the preferred embodiment of an interlocking fastener includes hook and loop structures as interlocking elements. The use of alternative forms of interlocking elements is within the scope of interlocking fasteners according to the present invention.
A further benefit, and distinguishing feature, of the present invention, is the placement of a deposit of pliable, conformable material over a portion of one or both surfaces of an interlocking fastener. The conformable material comprises an organic polymer, preferably an elastomeric organic polymer and most preferably an adhesive polymer. A basis for selection of pliable, conformable materials resides in their ability to exert frictional contact against one or more objects held inside a wrapped fastening strip to reduce to a minimum the freedom of movement of the confined objects. The most effective way to reduce movement of objects is to use frictional contact, against wrapped objects, combined with adhesive bond formation with portions of the objects.
Manufacture of interlocking fasteners according to the present invention requires a means-of coating to deposit a pliable, conformable material at a plurality of boundaries between areas of connecting elements on at least one side of a mechanical fastener structure. The conformable material makes at least frictional contact with one or more objects to substantially prevent them from moving after they have been confined inside a wrapped fastening strip formed by overlapping end portions of an interlocking fastener strip. Conformable materials, including mastic or adhesive products, may be applied in a variety of patterns including line patterns, rectangular or circular grid patterns and symmetrical or unsymmetrical patterns of dots of deposited material. Other patterns fall within the scope of the present invention.
More particularly the present invention provides an interlocking fastener, preferably in the form of an elongate strip, for holding at least one object in a substantially immobile condition. The interlocking fastener comprises a backing sheet having a first side opposite a second side and a first end opposite a second end. A plurality of first connecting elements, attached to the first side of the backing sheet, releasably engage a plurality of second connecting elements attached to the second side of the backing sheet during formation of a wrapped fastening strip. The interlocking fastener has a deposit of a pliable material at a plurality of boundaries between areas of the connecting elements on at least the first side of the backing sheet to provide at least frictional contact with the at least one object to substantially prevent it from moving following formation of the wrapped fastening strip by overlap of the first end and the second end. The plurality of first connecting elements may be a plurality of hook elements and the plurality of second connecting elements may be a plurality of loop elements. Pliable material may be deposited in a variety of patterns including, straight line patterns, rectangular patterns, circular or arcuate patterns and dot patterns. The patterns may be formed by any of a number of coating methods including slot coating, pattern coating, and rotogravure coating and the like, using materials including elastomers, mastics and adhesives.
The following definitions clarify the meanings of terms used herein.
Terms such as xe2x80x9cfastening strip,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstrip fastenerxe2x80x9d or the like include a backing sheet having opposing sides. At least one of the sides has interlocking connecting elements on its surface, while the other side may be covered with interlocking connecting elements or a deposit of a pliable material, or a combination of interlocking connecting elements and pliable material.
The terms xe2x80x9cconnecting elements,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cinterlockingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cinterconnectingxe2x80x9d elements or the like may be used interchangeably to describe structures such as hooks, and loops, and other geometric structures known for use in mechanical fasteners.